The National Defense Panel -- mandated by Congress a year ago
-- has concluded that the Pentagon should abandon its two-war
mission readiness and prepare for "homeland defense" against
electronic sabotage and chemical or biological terrorist strikes.
What's needed are smaller units capable of rapid, world-wide
deployment with more accurate weapons, enhanced satellite
defenses, and better protection against chemical and biological
attacks. [Robert L. Park, WHAT'S NEW, 05Dec97.]

Canada has extended its experimental high-tech immigration
exclusion through Mar98, by which time 400-600 software
specialists may have come in without having to prove that no
Canadians could fill the jobs. [Ottawa Citizen, 09Dec97. EduP.]

Raphael Malyankar clarified an immigration issue for me.
The limit of 65K H-1B visas is in addition to 140K employment-
related immigration visas (for all fields, and counting spouses
and children). Further, recent graduates of US universities can
get up to 12 months of employment authorizations upon graduation
-- enough to tide them over until the new visa year. You can find
much more info about US immigration and work policies on
,
esp. Norman Matloff's "A Critical Look at Immigration's Role
in the U.S. Computer Industry." Raphael has serious doubts
about the recently reported worker shortages and the high wages
supposedly available to techies. It's certainly possible
to find lower-paying jobs, esp. for recent graduates.
[, 10Dec97.] (Also, AI graduates
who want to pursue their research further may find few ready-made
opportunities. The high salaries are for people willing to do
what needs to be done, and that seldom includes AI or research.)